Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Thanks and Giving





Mmm, Sweet Potatoes (that Grandma made special, just for me)!

Thanksgiving this year was very memorable. Most all of our nearby family and friends were around and we had a great time together! Roll call: Cousin Aaron (he is awesome-a hilarious and creative free spirit), Grandma and Wayne (intregal 'connectors' of our family), Kristin, Lindy (prego!), and Kim - all beautiful as ever, Carly and Matt (who performed surgery - well, removed my 16 stiches over break!), Aunts and Uncles and Daniel and Leanne (17 really?), and many many more! We had lots of visiting time, eating time (of course),excellent music (JAM, Aaron and Matt)... We had a total blast! We greatly appreciate all the work my Mom did with cooking and organizing - she fed the multitudes! We will not forget this trip! Family is key.

As for life back in Maryland, we are nearly fully moved into our new house thanks to my Dad and Mom's help. They should go into business for moving - since Carly and I have moved out for college, they have supported nearly every move we have made (that's a lot!).

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Why Does Packing Take Sooooo Looooong?



Well, apart from all the crap you painfully learn that you've accumulated over the years...

You also have to smell it, wear it, paint it, and try it on one last time. You try out those long-forgotten nail polish colors, perfume scents...skirts...oh, and those boots - I haven't seen them since college!

JACKPOT!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

~My Miracles~ (w/ clarification)

So, let me clarify here: I am not pregnant (sorry grandparents). :) I did have someone think that after reading this post, so I wanted to add clarity. This post is a little saga about my recent life events. In a nutshell:
A really bad doctor --> a mis-diagnosis (of a rare & horrible disease) --> a pregnancy --> a birth --> a re-birth (mi) --> a bouncing baby (Noah) :)

Here are my ramblings...I thought it would be a good time to share a few of the biggest, most tangible ways that God has touched my life over the past year, year and a half. These are my miracles. He has given me so much, and I am so thankful.

1. My Son. My future.



















April and May of 2006 were two of the most challenging and transforming months of my life. Since I have been old enough to burp a baby, I have known that being a mother was one of my life's greatest desires. In April of '06 my life was turned upside down. This dream, my health and my future were in peril.

Back in the beginning of April '06, I saw a new-to-me OBGYN (in San Jose), who turned out to be a terrible doctor. Walk down Memory Lane... This doctor performed nearly two months of testing on me for a rare endocrine disease she thought I had based on elevated hormone levels returned during routine bloodwork. This was a terrible, trying time for me. This disease was awful. It would have been life-debilitating. During a work trip at the end of May '06, when the final round of tests came back, she went as far as to diagnose me with this disease - over the phone. She told me I would need life-long drug therapy. This disease would have rendered me infertile, and much much worse. In addition to the testing / diagnosis, this doctor also did a biopsy and coloscopy on my cervix during this time for dysplasia she found(see #2).

Guess what. I was pregnant (despite our use of BC). In fact, when I finally found out, I was about 2 months pregnant! It was a very scary thing at first. I made an appt with an endocrynologist. He went through all my lab work, all my family history and answered all my questions. He additionally did follow up research on my all my bloodwork results and concluded that all my hormone levels were completely within normal limits for pregnancy. I have no disease, just a healthy pregnancy. In fact, my hormone levels were skewed, b/c I was pregnant (not due to a disease!). I was FINE.

Just when you think there is no way out alive - and it is all over - God will create a brand new escape route for you. Yes, this was an incredibly bad doctor, but God healed all that hurt and removed any doubt or fear from me. He ensured my health - He gave me new life and a new future. It is beyond words how grateful I am for this precious gift God has given me. My Son, Noah.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.


2. My Health.

After the healthy delivery on my son and a move across the country, I settled into a new doctor's office that did follow up work on the cervical dysplasia uncovered in CA. Additional biopsies confirmed that I had CIN 3 (high-grade) cervical dysplasia. The doctor was very concerned and wanted to remove the abnormal tissue. She told me that this type of dysplasia would NOT clear on its own and would most likely turn into invasive cancer.

So, I underwent her recommended operation. When the final labwork came back on the biopsied tissue though, it did not come back with the expected reading of high grade. Or low-grade for that matter. It came back NORMAL. Healthy tissue! This was a direct and definite answer to prayer. He is so faithful!